William “Petie” Craddock is the pick to serve as interim Scottsville representative on the Albemarle County Board of Supervisors, filling the seat left vacant when Chris Dumler abruptly resigned after months of controversy following his arrest on a felony sodomy charge and eventual guilty plea to a misdemeanor sex crime.

Board members officially voted on the appointment of Craddock, who applied for the position as an independent, at the start of a Wednesday evening meeting at the County Office Building. Nine other candidates—three Democrats, three Republicans, and three other independents—also applied. Craddock said he wasn’t aware he’d received the nod until the public announcement shortly after 6pm.

“I just want to get things on an even keel,” said Craddock, standing in the lobby outside Lane Auditorium after giving a string of brief interviews for TV cameras. Things got “hectic” in the wake of Dumler’s arrest, he said. “We’ve got to get back to meetings like this.”

Craddock, a lifelong local, lives in the community of Milton south of I-64 near the northeast corner of the district, and was educated in Albemarle County from elementary school through his years at the University of Virginia. A pharmaceutical sales rep, he was appointed to the county Planning Commission in 2000 by former Scottsville supervisor Lindsey Dorrier, and served as a commissioner until 2008. He’s been a member of the board of the East Rivanna Fire Company since 1986, and serves as an Albemarle County election official.

He has pledged not to run for the Scottsville seat in the special election planned for November. A promise not to try for the seat was originally presented by the majority of the Board of Supervisors as a prerequisite for applying for the interim position, though by the end of June, the Republicans on the board were saying otherwise. But Craddock said he’d stand by his word.

And how do his politics align with his predecessor’s?

“There are probably similarities and differences,” he told C-VILLE in June. “I’d have to say that is not a big concern of mine, do I think how Chris thought or not. I think that’s up to the electorate in November. If they want to continue with Chris’ policies or his way of thinking, or take another direction.”

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